ParkColumbus Reviews

by Runnric

First off this company(park mobile) lost a bunch of our emails and passwords in a breach earlier this year. Beyond that, they partner with cities to create an awful parking experience.

Specifically here in Columbus:
The use of ParkColumbus and the new parking rules in the short north are harmful to everyone. An area known for its bars and restaurants now limits you to a 3 hour parking limit that requires you to move your car to a new zone (not even new spot) after your limit expires. You also can not park after 10pm which effects workers and patrons of the establishments. Definitely can not have a drink with a meal or go out for drinks when you are forced to drive every three hours to find a new spot. Let alone feeling rushed at dinner to go move your car. Why would I want to visit friends who live in the area or go out when the parking situation is now worse than before? I’d appreciate if the developer of ParkColumbus would make known the frustrations of its users to the Columbus parking authorities. You obviously work for the parking authority so please make them aware of our frustrations.

by D. Music

Somehow, unbeknownst to me, my ParkMobile account was hacked. Someone changed the license plate number attached to my account. I hadn’t given my information to anyone. When I paid to park my car last week, not knowing my information had been changed, I was given a $50 ticket that I am now contesting. Going forward, I am going to be leery using ParkMobile—ParkColumbus clearly needs better security safeguards to ensure its users aren’t victims of fraud.

by RubTheLamp

ParkColumbus says you can use Apple Pay to pay for your parking but rejects payments made with Apple Pay with no reason given in the Apple Pay screen. You have to exit out and get a message window later in another screen.

I’ve never had Apple Pay rejected by an app ever. This is the first time I’ve ever experienced it. It fraudulent to say ParkColumbus accepts Apple Pay.

by Onlyeverreviewedthisawfulapp

I live in one of the new zones. My roommate applied long ago and has heard nothing about his application in weeks. You can’t pay for extra guest passes through ParkColumbus , despite that being the only option. You have to change passwords to even make it work. ParkColumbus basically just brings you to the web page to log in anyway, so what’s the point? Moreover, what’s the point of doing this electronically in the first place. A sticker on residents’ cars and a rear view hanging plastic permit for guests is no issue and avoids all the ridiculous “we can’t process your request at this time” notifications you get when trying to pay for extra guest passes, which I wouldn’t need if my roommate didn’t need to use my guest pass to park at his own house.

by Haidbekai

Put all the info in and paid the $2 to park for an hour. Got back to my car and saw a parking ticket on the windshield. Went to verify that I had paid for parking and all evidence was gone. Spent all this pointless time downloaded ParkColumbus and adding my car info in and setting it up only for it to not even work and have me out $50. I’m livid.

by Carndt182

This group needs to hire some UX specialists - or they need to communicate better with the parking authority, because the representation as to what is supposed to be happening but what is happening are two different things.

Now back to the UX - If some one new to the area can’t figure out how the signs on the street are supposed to coordinate with ParkColumbus then it doesn’t work! The interaction between the customer account portal and ParkColumbus is so bad that it feels like going back to a website that is a decade old. It is the developers job to make things work for the group that has hired them, this developer obviously hasn’t figured it out - at least in Columbus.

by Big Poppa203

Besides this whole electronic parking being prohibitive to people without smartphones and the outrageous price jacking up that has occurred with the roll out without a vote, ParkColumbus is terrible. If you pick a wrong vehicle and immediately realize it, you are out $7. Did you pick the wrong zone? Out $7 more and then pay another $7 and hope you have everything correct this time. The fact you can’t make any adjustments within the first 3 minutes is a shame and a scam.

by Jeff Jjjjjjjjjjjjjj

I previously wrote a negative review for ParkColumbus, because it is destroying the Short North, making it more difficult for employees to park there, and charging a rediculous hourly rate and all the developer had to say was, "please cite specific sources for how ParkColumbus didn't function properly." This is exactly the problem! The developer (and the city) has blindly rolled this out not giving a single care to the people negatively affected by ParkColumbus but rather that it destroys the neighborhood, punishes the employees of the area, and price gouges the way it was designed to. That is very, very unfortunate.

by SnowBobby

One star, and only then because I got a live person (after 15 minutes on hold). Worst support ever. I mean, why bother calling it tech support? Tried to change my default payment method. Can’t be done, they said. Because I signed up with Apple Pay, I cannot make the change. I must CALL APPLE to remove it. I used Apple Pay because it was the default setup! My city doesn’t even accept Apple Pay, which is only explained after you setup ParkColumbus .
Can you imagine?! Their response to my issue is to call APPLE.

by Aevans986

This could not be more difficult to use for Short North Permitting. It spins for ages, won’t let me log in (freezes, glitches etc) and makes me enter my entire email and password every time (doesn’t automatically save). Also doesn’t give you an option to nickname friend’s license plate numbers for guest passes, doesn’t email them that they have a pass activated, etc. Its so disappointing that Cbus is charging for parking, and even more disappointing that they can’t even get the technology right.

by Nkjbiughi

This service apparently had a breach in March and did not notify its customers. My credit monitoring service, alerted me 2 days after i used ParkColumbus. I used it on Wednesday and today is Friday. What is going on??

The worst part is ParkColumbus will not allow you to delete your payment info if it is the only one listed, which is also concerning. Now i am worried about hackers stealing my banking info.

FIX YOUR SECURITY.

by Ikwik76

Mandatory minimum times is ok, but not if I cant “leave” or park at more than one spot. As a courier who may only be at a place for a few minutes and then needs to pay for parking at another location this is not an option you can use. Pay to park for a minimum of 30min and you can not use it to park again for at least 30min but may need to pay to park 2-3 or even more in this time frame.

Update.... Parkmobile recommends I contact the owner of the spot and completely missed the point of my post. Furthermore I have found that this is clearly a designed part of ParkColumbus as they include the topic in their faq where they simply( summarized) state you cannot pay to park at two locations at one time. This is the flaw I mentioned in giving my review and I stand by it.

by Jan142457488

When trying to sign up, it won't alow the keyboard to come up in order to create a password. All my other apps and even this one works if you already have an account and just need to sign in. But if you have to sign up using ParkColumbus , it won't work. Basically pointless, might as well play it safe and just use change at the meter instead of chancing it and possibly getting a ticket.

by Victor_E

Have seen ParkColumbus advertised before on meters when I have parked. Saw it today while parking, and decided to download. Set it up and used to pay for 1 hr. parking. Was pretty impressed until I came out after 48 minutes and saw meter flashing red and expired). ParkColumbus still showed 12 minutes remaining! So, despite initial positive impression, I am very weary now. Will try again, but will be very careful before I trust ParkColumbus.

by Saradinla

A little confusing with just the zone. The meters have individual identification tags on them but I didn’t see a place to add that in ParkColumbus .

Otherwise, very convenient once downloaded and set up. Love the feature of being able to add time without running back to the meter

by IKrug360

Looks like I can park and pay and then extend my session, but there’s no way to cancel my order/session. The use case was that I had an old license plate number in my profile, started my parking session, but had to start a completely new session and get charged again because I could not cancel my current session. :-/

by Chi Chi Modo

City of Columbus always taking money from locals and tourists. Just another high tech way to rob people who want to spend money in town when they come

by ColsGuy!

Best parking system in history! Advise anyone and everyone who needs to park at one time or another or in one area or another in Colimbus, Ohio to download the ap and sign up!

by OrionIDGAF

I have use ParkColumbus for a while. I noticed since the first of the year, the minute option is missing. If I only need 2 hrs and 15 minutes, why do I have to pay for 3 hrs. This is ridiculous. Change it back.

Thanks for replying.

by General Bisber

I I have loved Ohio ever since I arrived about a week ago. California has crazy gas prices, crazy housing prices, and so many tourists that nails are expensive as well. People are so busy making a living there they don’t have a lot of time to be friendly. Ohio is completely different. You can tell by the lines that are not separated with Francis but this is one open country with friendly, open people. ago

by Lwelch42

I am not happy to see Parkmobile running convention center parking. My experience with them was horrible. I bought parking on ParkColumbus , was ticketed despite buying parking, and while my fee is waived they did not rescind or cancel the ticket. The previous company and app for the Columbus convention center had outstanding customer service. This company left me with a ticket on my record that I received from their mistake.

by AustinR.

As a cook in the short north my shifts range anywhere from 9-12 hours, I depend on the very limited free spaces the city had to offer. Now I’m faced with not only having to leave work during service and moving my car to a different zone FOUR TIMES, but also having to pay up to 40 dollars a shift. This is the worst move by the city and one of the ballsiest cash grabs I’ve ever seen. RIP short north.

by Casebug

I was moving into my new apartment and left my car parked in one of the spots below my garage so my parents could park in my spot to move me in. I used ParkColumbus thinking I’d be fine for the 3 hour limit since it’s posted all over the garage to use it (the garage is park place Columbus connected to the Wilson place on OSU campus). I go out when I have about 5 minutes left on my meter to move my car back to my spot and I see a parking ticket on my window for $20. Apparently ParkColumbus and garage do not communicate properly when people pay for their parking. Not worth my time and money to use if it’s not going to actually work.

by Double D Razor

I’ve lived in the same area for 6 years and parked in front of my house every year. They installed these signs over night where I can’t park in front of my house overnight anymore. There is 1-2 month waiting period for me to get a parking permit so I have to walk 3 blocks in sub zero temperatures just to get the same horrible street parking I’d have in front of my house. Thanks Columbus!!

by Jimmy Gorgonzola

I loved having to download an app, enter a credit card, and wait for my friend to pay off his parking tickets in order to park my car. Sensational. A digital red carpet.